Method of making hollow tiles.



P. TROUT. METHOD OF MAKING HOLLOW TILES.

APPLICATION FILED OCT.9. 1914.

Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

JIM!!! llllll-llllll u u-nu P. H. TROUT. METHOD OF MAKING HOLLOW TILES.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 9. 1914.

Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

irl/Iv? UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OF MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 VINTON, TROUT &

CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

METHOD OF MAKING HOLLOW TILES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

To all whom itmag/ concern:

Be it known that I, PHILIP H. TROUT, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Mount Vernon, county of VVestche'ster, and State of New York, have invented. new and useful Improvements in Methods ofMaking Hollow Tiles of Concrete and like Plastic Materials, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in v the manufacture of hollow concrete tile such as pipes, blocks, and the like, and has for its object the production of a hollow t1le of substantially uniform density and strength throughout its entire length and also the utilization of materials in the manufacture of the same which would otherwise be of little value for this purpose.

In a block molding, or a brick machine, in which the cross sectionof the block is large in comparison with the area of the lateral faces of the block, a substantially uniform compression may be obtained with a fixed mold. and a compressing plunger, for the reason that the frictional loss through the movement of the compressed material against the faces of the molds is relatively slight. In the making of hollow tile, how ever, the area of the engaging faces of the mortar, and the mold and core, are so great relative to the cross section of the material engaged by the plunger, that a largeproportion of the power applied to the plunger is lost through the friction of the material on the walls of the mold and core, and the com pressing force is materially reduced before it reaches the material at the opposite end of the mold. By means of my improved process, as hereinafter described, this frictional loss is distributed uniformly over the entire lateral area of the tile, so that the tile is equally compressed and becomes of uniform density throughout.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a specially constructedmachine for forming hollow tile in accordance with my improvedmethod, and I will first describe the construction of this machine and then describe the manner in which it is, operated to carry my improved process into effect.

Such apparatus is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a front elevation showing the mold partly in section; Fig. 2 is a similar view at right angles to Fig. 1 also partly broken away to show the interior of the mold; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail view similar to Fig. 1 showing the position of the mold and pistons after initial movement of the same; Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the said pistons at the upper limit of travel, the upper end carrying the fixed plungers being lifted, the mold having dropped back to its original position and the finished tile being shown ejected almost completely out of said mold ready for removal; Fig. 5 is a cross section on the line V-V of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a similar cross section on the line VI-VI of Fig. 4; Fig.

is a cross section on line VII-VII of Fig. 4; Fig. 8 is a detailed section pallet.

Referring to the drawings and the construction shown therein, the numeral 2 designates the base of said tile making machine, the same being connected by standards 3 with a top 4. The hydraulically operated piston 5 working in the cylinder 6 is actuated from any suitable source. of continuous hydraulic pressure (not shown) through the pipe 7. Similarly arranged in the top frame 4 is a cylinder 8, which is alsoconnected through the pipe 38 with the source of hydraulic pressure, the piston 9 of this cylinder being connected by the rod 10 to the head 11, which is 3, thereby permitting the head to slide thereon. The

- the upper face of the mold in its lowermost pos1t1on and uponeach end of the frame there is pivoted a double hook 12 adapted to engage these reduced portions 13 of said standards to lock the head in the aforesaid position against upward movement. These hooks are operated simultaneously to engage with or be disengaged from the standards by means of interconnecting mechanism comprising links 14 which are pivoted at one end to hooks 12 at points distant from the said pivots of said hooks, the said links being respectively connected. to the ends of the common link 15, which latter is pivoted at its center upon the head 11. The books are actuated by means of an opera ting handle 16 which is rigidly secured at one of the tile 1 provided with ears l7 v at each corner boredto receive the standards end to the link at the point of its pivotal 3 connection with the linkl l. Theposition of thelocking mechanism when the frame is locked to the standards is shown in full lines .in said Fig. ,5, antl the position when disoperate within the 29 which serveto enga get] is shown in broken line-- The head 18 is mounted upon the hydraulic piston 5 and is slidable upon the standards 3 in a-manner similar to the head "11,the same being provided with a series of the tile, the exterior of the tile being shaped to'the outer wall and the partition 23 of the mold. The rods 24: at the bottom of the mold serve to support the pallets to form the temporary bottoms of the mold and the pallets are lifted from these bars by the plungers 19 whichengage the ends and the central connecting webs 25 of the pallet. The mold is provided with a supporting and surroundingvframe 26 to which itis detach-ably connected by means of lagscrews or bolts 27, this frame having perforate corner lugs 28' working upon the standards 3; Y

Cross the .stan'dards 3 are rigidlysecured to the frame is free to move upon 40 is raised to the standardsadjacent the mold by-means of set screws 31.- These cross bars carry dashpots 32 in which work perforate .pisto'ns 33 whose stems 34 connect them to angle pieces 35 secured to the mold frame. The mold the standards between the collars 36 and the shoulders '37,the same being sufliciently far apart to permit unrestricted freedom of movement of the 'mold throughout the compressing action of the machine.

In carrying out my improved process, the

machine is operated as follows:The 'pos1- tion of the machine after the mold is filled and before compression. is shown in Fig. 1, the head 18 and mold frame 25 being both in lowered position. In filling. the head 11 position shown in Fig. 4:. the dropped into the mold where they rest upon the tie rods 24 to serve as the bottoms of the molds. The mold is filled to the desired depth with a stiff mortar, preferably of the consistency commonly employed by bricklayers, such for example as a mortarprepared from a mixture of one part cement. 3 parts sand, 8 parts cinders. together with pallets 8 being the necessary amount of water. The depth of filling will vary with the desired density and height of the tile. A suitable depth, for example when it is desired to produce an 8 inch block, under a pressure of 90 tons, is approximately 16 'plungers is of course By reason of this movement 'portion of the compressing force,

bars 39 having books 30. engaging greater than inches. For such purposes it is found that a floating mold weighing two tons can be satisfactorily employed in order to produce a hollow block of the relative dimensions shown, having walls about one inch in thickness. Following the introduction of the mortar into the mold the head His lowered in order to cause the plungers 39 to bear down upon the mortar. Hydraulic pressure is then applied to the piston 5 in order to lift the head 18 and thrust the plungers carried thereby upwardly into the mold to raise and effect the desired compression of the mortar therein. The pressure of the first received by the material at the bottom of the mold which is expanded laterally into frictional engage ment with the walls of the mold and cor-es. frictional action the mold is lifted with the plungers and compressed material. the movement of the mold, however. being resisted by its friction against the less compressed material above. However, as the action and reaction are equal, themold will tend to liftthe'material above in engagement with its faces, in the exact proportion that the material resists the of the mold. In other words. a which would otherwise be concentrated at the bottom' of the mold, is transmitted through the mold to thematerial above, the diminution inpressure resulting from the greater friction loss .a'teach successive portionor layer being compensated by the greater pressure transmitted through the mold. It is obvious that disregarding the weight of the mold and core andthe contained material, which is negligible in comparison with the many thousands ofp'ounds of compressing force,

exactly equal compression and resultant density is produced throughout the entire mass of the mortar from the bottom to top.

When the desired compression and density have been attained, hydraulic pressure is applied through the conduit 38 so as to actuate the plunger 9, the'lockingdevices holding the head 11 in place having been released to lift thehead 11 tothe position shown in Fig. 3. The locking device will again be set to engage the under face of the head and hold it in such raised position.

The plunger 6 will be again actuated to eject the tile from the mold. When a forming pressure of 90 tons was employed it was found that a newly formed tile often required over 20 tons of pressure to eject the tile from the floating mold. The surfaces of the hollow tile are of such great extent that the ejecting pressure required is much that commonly employed in forming a solid block orbriquet. Meanwhile the mold drops back of its. own gravity until it rests upon the collars 36 leaving the pallets supported upon the plungers 19 above the top of the mold and carrying the tiles 40, which then can be removed for storage and curing.

Exhaustive tests have demonstrated that the tiles produced by my improved machines in regular manufacture, as above described, are of uniform density throughout whereas tiles made in a stationary mold with an upwardly acting plunger are more dense at the bottom and gradually decrease in density toward the top, and in a stationary mold with oppositely moving plungers, the maximum denslty is at the ends of the tile which is weak and porous at its center. Thisapplication is a companion case to applicants prior apparatus application No. 770,283 filed May 27, 1913 for improvements in concrete tile making, this application being a continuation thereof as to all matter common to the said applications.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The method of forming hollow tiles and similar articles, from cementitious material which consists in confining a cementi-' tious plastic mortar against expansion in any direction between freely movable surfaces, then applying suflicient pressure to said mortar to effect frictional engagement between the material and the confining surfaces, in parallelism with the line of applied pressure, to drag said movable confining surfaces in the direction of compression, and continuously maintaining suflicient pressure on said material to maintain such frictional engagement with said confining surfaces, and to gradually increase the compression of the material until said mortar is substantially uniformly compressed throughout and the desired article formed.

2. The method of forming hollow tiles and similar articles from cementitious material which consists in confining a cementitious plastic mortar against expansion in any direction between freely movable confining surfaces, then applying sufficient pressure to effect frictional engagement between the material and the confining surfaces, which are in parallelism with the line of applied pressure, to drag said confining surfaces in the direction of compression, continuously maintaining sufficient pressure on said material to maintain such frictional engagement with said confining surfaces and to gradually increase the compression of the material until said mortar is substantially uniformly compressed throughout and the desired article formed and then restraining said surfaces against movement and forcibly ejecting said material from said confining, surfaces in the direction of compression.

3. The method of forming hollow tile and similar articles from cement concrete which consists in confining the cement concrete mortar, containing the necessary amount of water, against expansion in any direction between freely movable confining surfaces, then applying sufficient pressure to effect frictional engagement between the confining surfaces, which are in parallelism with the line of applied pressure, to drag said confining surfaces in the direction of ccmpression, continuously maintaining sufficient pressure on said material to maintain such frictional engagement with said confining surfaces, and to cause continuous movement of said surfaces during the movement of the material as it is compressed to gradually increase the compression of the material until said mortar is substantially uniformly compressed throughout and the desired article formed, while preventing the escape of said water from said plastic mass throughout the period of compression, and then removing the obstruction against longitudinal movement of said compressed mortar, restraining said confining surfaces against movement, and forcibly ejecting the finished product.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at the city, county and State of New York, this 8th day of October, 1914.

PHILIP H. TRUUT.

Witnesses:

W. B. MORTON, W. H. SWENARTON. 

